Natalie: Cameron Diaz	Dylan: Drew Barrymore
Alex: Lucy Liu	Bosley: Bill Murray
Voice of Charlie: John Forysthe	Eric Knox: Sam Rockwell
Mr. Jones: LL Cool J	Roger Corwin: Tim Curry
Director: Joseph McGinty Nichol	Chad: Tom Green III

30 Second Bottom Line: Three young female detectives, with a boss that they never see, are given a mission to retrieve stolen voice ID software. Using kung fu, technical skills, and good looks, they battle evil, power hungry villains.

Story Line: The angels, as you'll recall from their TV glory days, are three (somewhat interchangeable) women. Here, they are Natalie (Cameron Diaz), Dylan (Drew Barrymore) and Alex (Lucy Liu). Their big boss is Charlie (John Forsythe, reprising his TV role), the disembodied voice on the phone and owner of the detective agency for which they work. The man they work with on a day to day basis is Bosley (Bill Murray) who seems to always get himself in a jam, which requires the skills of the angels to save him.

Eric Knox (Sam Rockwell) is a Bill Gates type billionaire who has made his money in satellite technology. Eric is kidnapped and Charlie calls upon his force of "angels" to rescue him. They are told that the likely culprit is his archrival Roger Corwin (Tim Curry). He has both the motive and the financial means to perform such a caper. If Roger can combine his GPS (global positioning system) technologies with Eric's satellite know how, he can then generate a voice DNA, which would mean the end to privacy.

When progress is made toward rescuing Eric, we learn that there may be an additional motive to the kidnapping. During the Viet Nam War, it appears that Eric's father and Charlie were "in country" together. Charlie is alive and Eric's father is not. Although the angels never see Charlie or know where he is, they do speak with him. The new technology combination of the satellite and GPS could also be used to locate him.

Tell Me More About It: In the course of learning who the enemy is, there are plenty of tongue in cheek gags and action scenes that give meaning to the term "eye candy". Charlie's Angels and the upcoming film, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, are taking women to an action level beyond the sidekick or space ship commander, to the characters that control the action in all phases of the story. A not so subtle message is that you should "never send a man to do a woman's job."

Of the three angels, Dylan is by far the one who is most on par with a Tom Cruise M:I, role, with respect to the acting and the action scenes. Alex and Natalie tended to drag the film down a bit and make it feel more like a big TV movie. While Natalie is arguably the most attractive of the three, she gyrates her hips and flashes that million-dollar smile in almost every scene, and it's difficult to decide what the movie wants to be. Is it to be like Road Trip with action scenes or an action picture (a la James Bond) with good looking women to smooth things out?

The acrobatic kung fu (Matrix style) in the film crosses the line between being used to support the story, to that of giving the three leggy women the opportunity to strut their bodies for the teenage boys and young adult men. Overall I expect this to have a broad-based appeal to young women as well because it does provide a positive portrayal of young females. They are smart, attractive and on par with men in hand to hand combat.

Charlie's Angels defines the concept of "camp". It's over the top from the beginning to the very end. If you are looking for a "pure entertainment, popcorn movie", then give it a try. If you want to see the good points of this film, with a strong love story and kung fu that takes the action in the Matrix to another level, save your money and see Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.

Joseph McGinty Nichol: Debut	Cameron Diaz: Any Given Sunday
Drew Barrymore: Never Been Kissed	Lucy Liu: Shanghai Noon
Bill Murray: Cradle Will Rock	John Forysthe: Charlie's Angles TV
LL Cool J: Deep Blue Sea	Sam Rockwell: Galaxy Quest
Tim Curry: Rugrats in Paris	Tom Green III: Road Trip